Go With the Flow

Go With the Flow
The notion of being like a bottle that just floats aimlessly with the water’s current can have both a negative and positive connotation. If we were like those who “go with the flow” of following the crowd, we could end up in quite precarious situations. For example, the young person who yields to peer pressure and follows the crowd that takes them to less than acceptable places and friendships. In that instance, “going with the flow” could lead to all kinds of difficulties.

Over the last few days, however, I’ve found myself using the term “going with the flow” in a positive, faith-filled way. There have been many things "on my plate" and weariness had set in. I was shouldering some big-deal responsibilities and I wanted to make the best decisions and I wanted to prove my abilities and strengths in them. I became somewhat anxious and unsettled. That’s when I heard those words “Go with the flow!” I remembered seeing the illustration of that plastic bottle just floating along, going where the current took it. The bottle didn’t resist. The bottle didn’t say “NO, not that way. This way is better.” The bottle was just “being” – doing what a bottle should do if placed in a current. It goes with the flow.

And it was amazing. God met me with this illustration. He is such a personal and specific God. He knows the hearts of those who love Him. And though we don't always need a word from God to get us moving -- most days we just must “trust AND obey”, relying on His Word. We don’t have to be so set in our ways, that we can’t make adjustments and “go with the flow”. I like to think of it as abandoning my way of hurdles to climb, speed bumps to cross over, and detours that take me the opposite direction. When I simply rest in the fact that His way will take me to my destination in short, fast and safe order, then going with His flow, is the way to go.

My husband was a “do it by the book” kind-of-guy. He left little room for spontaneity. He wanted an itinerary and all the specifics laid out way before we’d venture out. Then there was the day, when he won an 8-day, all expenses paid trip to Sweden. No time for planning. While we were there, spontaneously, we bought backpacks and ventured to Denmark and Germany. We rode on trains, took cabs, ferries, and bicycle carts – all without making a big deal about anything. We went with the flow, and we enjoyed adventures of our lifetime. We literally had no plans – just casting caution to the wind and free-styled through Europe.

All we did was show up and obey. God did the rest. And that, my friend, is all we have to do. Mentally, physically and spiritually, we just need to become that bottle that is at the mercy of the flow of the river. Being at the mercy of God’s best plans instead of our own, causes us to relax and enjoy the journey. We don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we do know WHO holds our tomorrows and He is the Master of the waterways.

Psalm 66:12 “You made men ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water, Yet You brought us out into a place of abundance.”